President Nana Akufo-Addo has made changes to his cabinet, resulting in the replacement of more than 20 ministers.
Among those affected is Ken Ofori-Atta, the former finance minister. Ofori-Atta’s removal comes amidst criticism of his leadership during the country’s most severe economic crisis in the past ten years. A World Bank report from 2023 revealed that a combination of internal imbalances and external shocks in the previous year contributed to macroeconomic difficulties in Ghana.
The year was characterized by a devaluation of the currency, soaring inflation rates, and a decline in investor confidence.
The report highlights that existing fiscal vulnerabilities, such as a mounting debt burden, an inflexible budget strained by high energy sector expenses, and consistently low public revenues, were exacerbated by challenging global economic conditions, ultimately leading to a “full-blown crisis” in the country.
In July 2022, Ghana’s central bank recorded a significant loss of 60.8 billion cedi, primarily due to debt restructuring. Last year, numerous Ghanaians took to the streets to protest the deteriorating economy and called for the removal of Ernest Addison, the governor of the central bank.
Mohammed Adam, the current minister of state at the finance ministry and former deputy energy minister in charge of the petroleum sector, is set to replace Ofori-Atta.
Additionally, several other ministries experienced changes in leadership, including health, environment, science, technology and innovation, gender, children and social protection, as well as tourism, arts, and culture.
“President Akufo-Addo is hopeful that Parliament will, once again, on a bi-partisan basis, expedite the approval of his nominees, so they can join the Government forthwith, and assist in the delivery of his mandate for his second term in office,” the statement added.
Akufo-Addo will be stepping down next year when his constitutionally permissible two-term limit elapses.
Eugene Arhin, the Director of Communications at the Office of the President of Ghana, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, shared the details of these recent updates with the public through a Facebook post, as shown below.
